Your memories of the key events in Birmingham are being sought for a major exhibition in the city.

Birmingham Post readers who have worked at Austin Motors, Cadbury’s or HP are urged to become part of the show.

Anyone who recalls the impact of Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood Speech, who saw Duran Duran’s first performances or those who flocked to the Super Prix road races are among those being asked to come forward.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery wants people’s stories to go alongside their photographs, films and memorabillia in the new £9.7 million exhibition celebrating the city’s history.

The Lottery-funded Birmingham History Galleries are set to open next year and will include a Your Birmingham section to explore residents’ stories.

Staff are collecting stories from workers in the city’s key factories and shops, those first residents on the major post war housing estates and those who recall key events.

A key exhibit will be the HP Sauce sign, saved from the factory when it closed in 2007.

City Culture chief Martin Mullaney said: “I’m sure it will be the star item in the gallery – it’s an iconic image from Birmingham’s past.

“We’re asking people to get in touch with us and talk about their memories of working at the factory and just general memories around the sign itself.

“The new gallery will talk about the wider history of this fantastic city and its people and we’re gathering stories for this exhibition – not just about the HP sign but about lots of subjects.”

Staff are especially collecting stories on the following:

• Workers at Austin Motor Works, Longbridge, Cadbury’s and Chad Valley, Harborne and HP Sauce;• Those who move to Kingstanding or Weoley Castle estates from 1945 onwards and the first residents of the Duddeston Four or Prefabs;• Shoppers and employees at the Lewis’s Store from the 1940s-90s;• Owners and revellers of Birmingham Nightclubs in the 1950s-60s;• Shoppers and shopkeepers at The Bull Ring in 1964;• Shoppers and shopkeepers at the Bullring from 2000–2003;• Fans of Duran Duran or HP Sauce enthusiasts;• Memories of the bitter winter of 1947;•The end of the trams in 1953;• Those present at 1968 Rivers of Blood Speech or affected in the aftermath;• The 1977 Silver Jubilee;• Spectators at the Super Prix between 1986-9.